Norwegian pilot site

Wildfires in Northern Europe

Description

Wildfires in Northern Europe Description Norwegian forests cover 38% of the land area in the country. Many residential buildings in Norway are in proximity to wildland vegetation. Besides, a large number of such houses were built using wooden construction materials, posing a great wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire risk. Due to the long and narrow territory of Norway, a large population in northern Norway relies heavily on the infrastructures in the forest, such as power grids and telecommunication towers. Therefore, it is crucial for Norway to reliably detect forest fires and protect the critical infrastructures in the early stage. To improve prevention and preparedness for wildland fire, several field exercises on forest fires are carried out each year in Norway by local firefighters, Norwegian Fire School (NBSK), and the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB). The Norwegian pilot use case will be connected to such exercises. Measurements obtained from the field exercises will be used as the inputs to test the passive fire protection technologies provided by partners.

  • Characterise wildland fire in Norwegian forest and coastal heather land by field measurements of flame propagation speed, temperature, and heat flux. 
  • Develop a realistic test method and perform controlled tests to evaluate the performance of passive fire protection products for wooden buildings and key steel and concrete infrastructure exposed to wildland fires. 
  • Provide suggestions and guidelines regarding necessary safety zones around critical infrastructure and WUI areas based on Norwegian conditions. 
  • Provide suggestions and guidelines regarding building technical requirements for wooden houses and cottages in areas with a high risk of forest fires. 
  • Develop cost-effective methods to protect key infrastructure and residential buildings in areas with a high risk of forest fires. 
  • Streamline rescue and logistics processes by standardising data from the IoT (sensors etc) used in the pilot, using relevant ISO standards.

  • Control of any extreme and potentially harmful wildfire in less than 24 hours. 
  • 50% reduction in building losses and infrastructure.

Are you interested to learn more about the ΤRΕΕΑDS pilot implementations in Norway?
Contact us!

Edvard Aamodt and Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen,
RISE Fire Research

Return to Pilot Campaigns